Dog Housetraining Tips

Here at Liv Avenida, were very proud of our four legged residents. We know how much you love your pets and we love them too! One of the trickiest parts of owning a dog while living in an apartment (or anywhere, really), is housetraining. Keeping your dog from doing their business in your apartment can be high-stress and we dont want that! So we turned to the Humane Society for some great instructions on housetraining a dog or puppy. The key is to establish a consistent routine. Like babies, puppies do best on a regular schedule. The schedule teaches him that there are times to eat, times to play and times to potty. Generally speaking, a puppy can control his bladder one hour for every month of age. So if your puppy is two months old, he can hold it for about two hours. Don't go longer than this between bathroom breaks, or he's guaranteed to have an accident. If you work outside the home, this means you'll have to hire a dog walker to give your puppy his bathroom breaks. Take your puppy outside frequentlyat least every two hoursand immediately after he wakes up, during and after playing, and after eating or drinking. Pick a bathroom spot outside, and always take your puppy (on a leash) to that spot. Use a word or phrase, like "go potty," that you can eventually use before he goes outside to remind him what to do. Reward your puppy when she gets it right. Praise her or give her a treatbut remember to do so immediately after she's finished, not after she comes back inside the house. This step is vital, because rewarding your dog for going potty outdoors is the only way to teach her what's expected of her. Before rewarding her, be sure she's finished. Puppies are easily distracted: If you praise her too soon, she may forget to finish until she's back in the house. Put your puppy on a regular feeding schedule. What goes into a puppy on a schedule comes out of a puppy on a schedule. Depending on their age, puppies usually need to be fed three or four times a day. Feeding your puppy at the same times each day will make it more likely that he'll need to go outside at consistent times as well, and that makes housetraining easier for both of you. Pick up your puppy's water dish about two and a half hours before bedtime to reduce the likelihood that she'll need to potty during the night. Most puppies can sleep for approximately seven hours without needing to go outside. If your puppy does wake you up in the night, don't make a big deal of it. Otherwise, he will think it is time to play and won't want to go back to sleep. Turn on as few lights as possible, don't talk to or play with your puppy, take him out to do his business and return him to his bed. For more tips on supervising your puppy, dealing with accidents, paper-training, and going on trips, check out the Humane Societys full article here. If youve got any useful tips of your own, please post them in the comments!
Dog Housetraining Tips